An NYPD cop who was a star player on the department’s football team was killed early yesterday when a commercial truck smashed into his pickup on the Long Island Expressway, officials said.
Off-duty Officer Joseph Pritchard, of North Babylon had inexplicably stopped his vehicle in the right lane of westbound traffic at Exit 51 in Dix Hills at 2:30 a.m. when it was struck from behind. His 2008 Dodge and the box truck that hit it burst into flames.
An eight-year veteran of the Midtown South Precinct and a top defender for the football team, Pritchard, 30, was pronounced dead inside his vehicle.
The truck driver was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.